Righteous Yang Posture

"This kid."

Seeing that Zhang Lingshan did not play along with his joke at all, the man who had teased him immediately found it dull and turned around. "Follow me."

After going around the screen and entering the courtyard, Zhang Lingshan saw more than a dozen figures standing in different places, each holding a different posture. Their breathing was either long and steady or short and rapid, and their expressions varied—some looked relaxed, while others were clearly in considerable pain.

"Wait here. I'll go call Master."

As he spoke, the man crossed through the Main Hall and shouted, "Master, that kid who rammed his head into the wall is back. His father didn't come with him this time, but who knows whether he'll come make trouble later. Are we taking him or not?"

"Take him. Why wouldn't we? The little fellow has set his heart on learning martial arts. If I refuse again and he smashes himself to death right in front of me, wouldn't that ruin my reputation?"

A voice like a great bell and thunderous chime rang out from within. Then a burly old man with a full beard strode out. He looked Zhang Lingshan over with great interest and said, "I heard you nearly smashed yourself to death last time and spent all the money you brought to become my disciple on recovering from your injuries. How did you come by spare money again?"

"Reporting to Master, my father and I worked at Red Leaf Temple for half a year, and we also took an advance on part of our wages. Only then did we painstakingly earn these twenty taels."

As he spoke, Zhang Lingshan swiftly reached into his robes and presented two notes.

The burly old man took them, felt them, then sniffed them. "They smell a little bloody. Looks like this money isn't clean."

But he did not care. A Silver Note passed through many hands; it was perfectly normal for it not to be clean, so long as it could be spent.

He casually handed them to a refined young man behind him. "Take these and change them."

"Yes!"

The refined young man immediately took the money and left.

The burly old man looked back at Zhang Lingshan and said calmly, "I've accepted the money. You are now a member of Hong Clan Martial Hall, but don't call me Master. Call me Hall Master. Only after you master Standing Posture within three months will you count as my Registered Disciple, and then you may call me Hong Master—Hong Zhengdao. Understand?"

"Understood!"

Zhang Lingshan nodded heavily.

"If, after three months, you still cannot stand the posture properly, I'll return ten taels to you. From then on, you will have no further connection with Hong Clan Martial Hall. Do not mention Hong Clan Martial Hall's name again. Understand?"

"Understood!"

"Mm, good that you understand. Little Stone, come teach him the Stance Skill. I'll watch."

Hong Zhengdao casually beckoned. A servant immediately brought over a table and chair, placing tea and pastries on the table for Hong Zhengdao to enjoy.

The one called Little Stone turned out to be the man who had just teased Zhang Lingshan. He was broad and thickly built, his face full of flesh. Calling him Stone was not wrong, but adding "Little" in front of it felt rather strange.

"My name is Shi Lei. I'll be teaching you the Stance Skill now. The Stance Skill of our Hong Clan Martial Hall is the Righteous Yang Posture. It follows the righteous path beneath Heaven and cultivates the True Yang qi between Heaven and Earth..."

This man spoke with extreme exaggeration, rattling off a whole flood of nonsense, making the Righteous Yang Posture sound like an unparalleled divine art unique under Heaven.

"Enough, enough. Stop talking nonsense. Xiao Shan rammed his head into a wall—his resolve to learn martial arts is unbreakable. He came here because he had set his sights on my, Hong Zhengdao's, name. Teach him properly. Don't cut corners or play tricks, or I won't let you off."

Hong Zhengdao spat a mouthful of tea onto Shi Lei and snorted.

Shi Lei hurriedly admitted his mistake. He had tried to flatter a horse and ended up kicking its hoof. He quickly composed himself, coughed, and looked at Zhang Lingshan. "Our Righteous Yang Posture has eighteen forms in all. I'll teach you the first one now: the Apex Sun Form."

As he spoke, he spread his Legs into a figure-eight stance and bent slightly at the knees. Both hands stretched above his head as if he were holding up a tray, while his head tilted back to look at that invisible tray in the air.

"Imagine that you are holding up a ball of fire with both hands. Once your hands become hot from practice, you'll have mastered the Apex Sun Form. It's best to practice this form beneath the blazing sun; you'll get twice the result with half the effort."

When he was not talking nonsense, Shi Lei was actually a reliable teacher. As he spoke, he patted Zhang Lingshan's body and corrected every part of his posture that was wrong.

Seeing that he was teaching well enough, Hong Zhengdao was quite pleased. With some training, Little Stone could specialize in teaching Stance Skills in the future and save him a great deal of effort.

But when he saw the posture Zhang Lingshan had assumed, Hong Zhengdao's anger immediately flared. He sprang in front of Zhang Lingshan and barked, "You're not putting any strength into it at all! If this is your attitude, I'll return your money. Get as far away as you can and scram!"

Smack!

He had a fiery temper, and as he spoke, he slapped Zhang Lingshan across the face.

Though the blow looked powerful, the old man had held back. Even so, Zhang Lingshan was knocked straight to the ground, baring his teeth in pain.

"What's going on? Are you made of paper? You fall over at the slightest touch?"

Hong Zhengdao was speechless. But seeing that Zhang Lingshan did not seem to be faking it, he tore open his clothes and saw faint red welts crisscrossing Zhang Lingshan's body.

After examining them for a long while, Hong Zhengdao frowned. "Who did you offend? Were you tied up and whipped?"

"No. I accidentally offended someone while working at Red Leaf Temple and was punished. But it's already fine. Construction at Red Leaf Temple is complete, so I no longer need to leave the city for work."

Zhang Lingshan answered at once, but his heart sank.

Hall Master Hong Zhengdao was a true martial arts expert. Yet even with his knowledge, he could not tell how these red welts had formed. What exactly had Zhang Lingshan suffered?

"Enough."

Seeing that Zhang Lingshan hurt with every movement, Hong Zhengdao waved a hand. "Since you're still injured, practice later. Go back and rest first."

"Hall Master, I still want to practice. I want to learn the Righteous Yang Posture first," Zhang Lingshan said hurriedly.

Hong Zhengdao's face darkened. "Hmph, foolish! Though a Stance Skill can strengthen the body and invigorate the qi and blood, you are injured. Your body cannot recover in time, and the more you practice, the more you will harm yourself. Come back after you've healed!"

With that, he could not be bothered to waste words on Zhang Lingshan any longer and turned to leave.

Zhang Lingshan grew anxious.

He knew Hong Zhengdao was right, but he was different from others. He only wanted to get the Righteous Yang Posture into the Panel as quickly as possible. How could he keep delaying?

Who knew what was going on with these red welts? If they never faded, was he supposed to never practice again?

"Brother Shi, teach me after the Hall Master leaves. I'll pay you."

Zhang Lingshan swiftly grabbed Shi Lei and stuffed a fragment of silver—the one he had taken from Li Hu—into his hand.

Shi Lei had not wanted to bother with him, but at the sight of the silver, he immediately put on a smile. "Kid, for the sake of practicing martial arts, you really care neither for money nor your life. I've heard that the strong all possess a heart for martial arts that cannot be shattered. Today, I've finally seen one. Come on. Since you want to practice, how could I stop you?"

It had to be said that Shi Lei was a man of principle. Though his mouth had no gate and he loved spouting nonsense and teasing people, once he took money, he did the job. He was quite reliable.

Thus, over the next stretch of time, he demonstrated all eighteen forms of the Righteous Yang Posture from beginning to end.

He also gave Zhang Lingshan careful instruction, correcting every mistake and omission.

After Zhang Lingshan had memorized every posture, Shi Lei said, "You don't seem stupid. You've practiced with basically no major problems. You just can't exert strength, so your movements lack solidity. But that's because of your injuries. Once you recover, practice hard. I think mastering it within three months won't be a problem."

That was merely polite talk.

As for whether Zhang Lingshan would succeed after three months, it had nothing whatsoever to do with him.

"Heh."

Seeing Zhang Lingshan endure the pain as he held the Standing Posture, Shi Lei suddenly had an idea. He sidled up to Zhang Lingshan and said with a grin, "I see you're desperate to practice. I have a medicinal soup that can help speed up your recovery. It's more affordable than what they sell outside—three mace of silver for a bowl. What do you say?"

"Fine."

Zhang Lingshan agreed without a moment's hesitation.

Because he had discovered that the Panel had already changed.

Name: Zhang Lingshan

Martial Art: Righteous Yang Posture (Entry Level+)

Energy: 0.3